Scandal

Scandal is about the Profumo Affair, the 1963 sex scandal that rocked Britain and helped bring down the ruling Conservative government after thirteen years. It's the story of Stephen Ward, an osteopath and society hanger-on, and Christine Keeler, a young dancer with ambitions whom he introduces to the Tory Secretary of War, John Profumo; soon, she is Profumo's mistress whilst simultaneously being involved with Eugene Ivanov, a Russian embassy official (and spy). When news of the married Profumo's infidelity breaks, the scandal grows as Christine's other affairs come to light. A scapegoat (or several scapegoats) must be found...moreless

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Trivia & Quotes

Notes (1)

The character of "David Fairfax Jr.", supposedly a famous Hollywood actor, is fictitious, but filmgoers, noting the initials, may have remembered that Douglas Fairbanks Jr. was mentioned in newspaper reports as having been involved in the Profumo Affair - something he always denied. His lawyers are known to have contacted the film-makers before the film was made.

Trivia (1)

When Joanne Whalley made this film, she was married to Val Kilmer, and thus was billed, as she always was during the years of this marriage, as "Joanne Whalley-Kilmer".

Allusions (1)

Although more than a quarter of a century had elapsed since the Profumo Affair at the time this film was made, many powerful and influential people, particularly those in the Conservative Party, were opposed to its being made. Lord Hailsham refused to allow newsreel footage of a famous 1963 television interview of his to be used in the film, forcing the film-makers to recreate the interview with an actor, Iain Cuthbertson, playing him. It was widely noted that, although the interview was recreated word-for-word with no changes, Cuthbertson's portrayal was, in looks and gestures, a most unflattering one.